Sunday, September 09, 2001
High School Insider
La Salle cross country gets national exposure
The LaSalle boys cross country team, ranked No.1 in Cincinnati and 12th in the nation, is touring the Western part of the United States this weekend.
The Lancers, competing in the Great American Races, got off to a great start by winning Saturday's race at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
“It was quite an ordeal to arrange travel out there for 14 guys, but it's fun too,” LaSalle coach Frank Russo said. “It's a great experience for us.”
LaSalle is 12th in the nation and No.3 in the Midwest in rankings posted in the Nike/Foot Locker Super 25 national poll, published last week in The Harrier running magazine. The Lancers also are ranked No.1 in Ohio in Division I.
LaSalle's Allen Bader, the defending Ohio Division I champion, is on the magazine's preseason All-America list of the top 50 boys.
Bader, who finished second in Saturday's race, hopes to become only the third runner to win back-to-back Ohio boys Division I titles. This year, his top time of 15:32 is 35 seconds faster than the next best Cincinnati runner.
Other returning LaSalle regulars are Garrett Grogan, Eric Mayhaus, Kevin Wright, Zac Altenau and Paul Calardo.
The Lancers also will be in the Great American Race of Champions in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept.22, where most of the country's top 25 teams will compete in what essentially is the national championship race.
“Whoever wins that is probably going to wind up the national champion, because all the best teams are there,” Russo said. “It will give us a legitimate perspective on how we rank among the top teams in the country.”
LaSalle will get local competition from St.Xavier, the defending state champion. St.X is ranked No.2 in the city and No.5 in the state and is led by Ben Wietmarschen and Jeremy Mosher.
TENNIS WATCH: Lynda Maslow, girls tennis coach at Madeira, said the area's biggest regular-season tournament is taking shape. That would be the GCTCA (Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association) tournament, to be held Sept.20 (various sites) and Sept.22 (finals, 1p.m. at Princeton High School).
Maslow, the tournament organizer, said most of the city's top-ranked teams will be among the 41 schools entered. The tournament usually gives an accurate gauge of who will do well in the postseason.
“This will be the biggest tournament we've ever had,” Maslow said.
SCHOOL SPIRIT: Many schools have pep clubs, but Northwest is taking it a step further.
The U-Knighted Knights is a fledgling group of student-athletes dedicated to developing unity among their teams, promoting school spirit, increasing student involvement and promoting sportsmanship. In an age when sportsmanship is sometimes lacking, the group has made that its primary focus and has helped found a school sportsmanship award.
Group members:
Seniors: Brittany Bomar, Kelly Edwards, Danielle Fox, Brett Kordenbrock, Samantha Meister, Aaron Nicely, Katie Riley, Dean Roden. Juniors: Valerie Cross, Phoebe Gaston, Luke McClung, Trent Shell, Katie Stirnkorb, Robert White. Sophomores: Tyler Kuhn, Tracy Kump, Tisha Lusk, Kim Moeung, Kristi Poling, Sam Swedersky, D'Angelo Walker, Ryan Young. Freshmen will be added to the group in January.
IN THE HOUSE: Wyoming plays its football games at Bob Lewis Stadium. And Bob Lewis himself was at last week's game vs. Roger Bacon.
Lewis, who won state championships in Ohio (Wyoming, 1977) and Kentucky (Conner, 1983), is retired and lives in Florida. Wyoming coach Bernie Barre said Lewis, 75, usually returns for a game or two each year.
FOOTBALL COACHES: Football coaches, please note: There will be a change in how we accept football statistics this week. We are asking coaches to e-mail or fax in each individual game stats and not cumulative stats as we have done in the past. Please include statistics, individual and team, for each of your team's first three games. The e-mail address is sports@enquirer.com and the fax number is 768-8550.
Contact Tom Groeschen at 768-8450; fax: 768-8550; e-mail: tgroeschen@enquirer.com.
Sports Stories
Bengals finally sign No. 1 pick
Kitna era begins, by God
Bengals need to keep pressure on Bledsoe
Key matchup: Dillon vs. Malloy
Who's got the edge?
By the numbers
NFL power ratings
Sizing up this week's NFL games
Pirates 5, Reds 2
Hamilton likely to join rotation
Boone back in full swing
Fans-eye view of the Reds
Pirates starter ends 7-game slide
Reds box, runs
UC 24, Army 21
High School Insider
